


CHANGE

by weakinteraction



Category: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri
Genre: Choose Your Own Adventure, F/F, Interactive Fiction, Possible Character Death, Time Travel Fix-It, Twine game, Yuletide Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-24
Updated: 2016-12-24
Packaged: 2018-09-11 06:02:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8958685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/weakinteraction/pseuds/weakinteraction
Summary: Deirdre and Corazon face near-certain defeat at the hands of Chairman Yang.  But there may just be a way to change the history of Planet.  Can you guide them to a better future?  Or perhaps a better past?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [prosodiical](https://archiveofourown.org/users/prosodiical/gifts).



"earthdeirdre! earthcorazon!"

The anguished yell rings out from the terminal slaved to the Voice of Planet, echoing across the Command Nexus in Gaia's Landing.

It is the end of everything, and all you can do is watch.

Reports are coming in from all over Planet, fragmentary but all telling the same story. Xenofungus erupting around all major bases, with no pattern discernible in terms of location, ecological profile, or faction ownership. The construction of the Voice of Planet seems only to have accelerated the processes that were already under way. The Voice, which you used to hear only in dreams and meditations, tries to explain using the new concepts it has learned, but it has no more control than you do over the vast subconscious processes of the flowering. Such control can only come when the Ascent is completed. Which is why Yang's people have suddenly arisen from their underground warrens, to try to prevent any other faction from achieving that goal. Armies better-equipped than anyone had imagined have swept across the globe. The satellite networks modern society relies upon have been crippled in a devastating Kessler Syndrome cascade intentionally triggered by the Chairman.

Standing next to you, watching the reports come in, is Colonel Santiago. Once a rival, now a refugee. She has led the bulk of her people into the relative safety of Gaian territory, escorting a huge convoy of supply crawlers: the last major outputs of the Spartan Federation's factories, to be put towards, of all things, your own attempt to transcend. Whatever may have passed between you in the past, it is as nothing to ensuring that Yang does not prevail in the Ascent. Meanwhile, Santiago's elite units are fighting a rearguard action in near-abandoned bases; you do not need to use any telepathic talents to sense that she wishes she were on the front line with them.

Planet yells again: "earthdeirdre! earthcorazon!" The voice is anguished in a way you have never experienced before, neither in your telepathic communications nor your conversations since the Voice was completed. It is as though Planet is desperately fighting against Yang's growing influence over its thought processes.

_To try to prevent Yang's victory via a desperate time travel gamble, play the game[here](http://philome.la/eternity_ahead/change/play) on philome.la._

_Chapter 2 on AO3 contains a few hints; Chapter 3 is a more thorough walkthrough, with spoilers. Bug reports etc. in the comments very welcome._


	2. Chapter 2

** Hints and Tips **

General: Scott is right about the limitations on your time travel capabilities, but it isn't necessarily game over if you exceed them.

2215: Where there is a clash between Secret Projects, the most recent change to the timeline will take effect, and the other faction's Secret Project will be adjusted if necessary.

2267: Social Engineering preferences make a huge difference to faction relations. The Spartan Federation has a strong affinity for the POWER value, and an aversion to WEALTH. Gaia's Stepdaughters prefer GREEN economics, and abhor the FREE MARKET.

2396: Decisions earlier in the timeline make a big difference to the options available in this time period. It may be best not visiting this time period early on.

There are nine different endings in all.


	3. Chapter 3

** Walkthrough (contains spoilers) **

**Prologue:**

Everything up to the point where you can choose whether to send Deirdre or Corazon back in time first makes no difference to the overall outcome. Talking to Pallas and Kirt can be skipped; as soon as you've talked to Scott, the option to go to the Secret Project site becomes available. The decision over who should enter the Temporal Projector first merely alters some flavour text.

**How to get the good/shippy ending:**

In any order, send each of Deirdre and Corazon to 2131 and 2267. In 2131, set up a treaty of friendship, and in 2267 choose the _other_ faction's social engineering preference.

Then go to 2396 as either faction leader and propose a Pact of Sisterhood. However, this will not be accepted by someone not possessed by their future self, so then travel back as the other one to accept. This then sets up an Ascent to Transcendence ending, which has a short epilogue.

**Other endings:**

Either faction declaring immediate vendetta in 2131 leads to an ending in which the Spartans win the ensuing war (on the grounds that their morale bonuses allow them to overcome early captured mind worms); this is portrayed differently depending on which faction leader you are playing at the time.

Choosing the other faction's social engineering aversion in 2267 leads to an ending in which you eventually end up at war (with the other faction having eventually pronounced vendetta, horrified at your society). The exact result of this war depends on a variety of other choices: 

  * Being in possession of either The Psychic Amplifier or The Command Nexus is considered to be an advantage. (If no alterations are made in 2215, these belong to the Spartans and the Gaians respectively, so this cancels out.) 
  * The wariness that results from not having offered or signed a treaty of friendship in 2131 is also considered an advantage (again, this is the default state in the original timeline and so cancels out if no changes are made in 2131). 
  * The Gaians gain an advantage against the Spartans if they had adopted the POWER value (preparing their society for war), and the Spartans gain an advantage if they had adopted the GREEN economic model (partially negating the Gaian's mind worm advantages); it is impossible for this last pair of advantages to be symmetrical as the vendetta only results when one faction makes the opposite choice. 



If there is a tie between the number of advantages each side has, it is broken in favour of the offended party (that is, the faction you are not controlling at the time) on the grounds that they would have the element of surprise when first attacking.

Overall, therefore, there are four different endings resulting from these choices. Corazon choosing FREE MARKET economics but then losing is the bleakest of all the endings; the ending in which Deirdre chooses WEALTH but then loses has a few extra dialogue choices compared to the others.

There is a relatively neutral ending which results if you decide that you have "had your fill" after your mind breaks apart inside the Projector.

Arguably the second-best ending can be obtained if Deirdre hurries the Empath Guild in 2215. This gives her sufficient votes in the Planetary Council to become Governor after Lal's disgrace, and veto Yang's attempt to repeal the UN charter. (This is all done by butterfly effect, there is no need to visit 2396 as Deirdre in order to make it happen.) However, she does not have the votes to become Supreme Leader by herself; however, if Corazon visits 2396 and votes for her, she will return to a 2455 in which Deirdre's Ascent is taking place, but merely as a fellow faction leader, not a Pact Sister.


End file.
